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1. Embed this notice
   Eugen Rochko (gargron@mastodon.social)'s status on Wednesday, 14-May-2025 17:51:58 JST Eugen Rochko

   • かき@GNUsocialJP

   The web feels so broken. Subscription and login gates at every corner. Using Google on a phone now means being periodically quizzed on which of the buttons to press to *not* be redirected to the app store. Opening an Instagram link casually throws up a browser alert dialog because it tries to automatically open an unsupported URL scheme, presumably their own app, and apparently everyone is fine with it. I'm proud that Mastodon never locks public content behind login walls.

   • HistoPol (#HP) 🏴 🇺🇸 🏴 repeated this.
   • Embed this notice
     publictorsten (publictorsten@mastodon.social)'s status on Wednesday, 14-May-2025 17:54:36 JST publictorsten

     in reply to

     @Gargron https://www.heise.de/news/Das-Zeitalter-der-Paywalls-4696357.html?seite=all

   • Embed this notice
     West Lawns⚡️ (westlawns@mastodon.social)'s status on Wednesday, 14-May-2025 17:57:33 JST West Lawns⚡️

     in reply to

     @Gargron
     I agree with your thoughts.
     There seems to be few spaces now that are quiet.

   • Embed this notice
     Furbland's Very Cool Mastodon™ (groupnebula563@mastodon.social)'s status on Wednesday, 14-May-2025 18:04:43 JST Furbland's Very Cool Mastodon™

     in reply to

     @Gargron Amen to that! I’ve noticed Bluesky gives you a weird, degraded version of the interface if you’re not logged in. Also, I know this is often overlooked, but I want to compliment you on it: GOOD MOBILE WEB UI. SO MANY sites these days have a mobile web that's horrible on purpose to get you to download their app. I usually do not need the app. I only downloaded the Mastodon app because 1: it’s mastodon, so I trust it and 2: the mobile web UI is good, which makes me confident the app is too

   • Embed this notice
     milkytwix (milkytwix@social.tchncs.de)'s status on Wednesday, 14-May-2025 18:06:44 JST milkytwix

     in reply to

     @gargron This came to my mind:

   • Embed this notice
     Étudiant étrange(r) ???? (mmokhi@mastodon.social)'s status on Wednesday, 14-May-2025 18:17:53 JST Étudiant étrange(r) ????

     in reply to

     @Gargron Thank you for your contribution to its quality and keeping a fresh breath of life in today’s web ❤️🙏

   • Embed this notice
     Socke65 (stefanhirsch@mastodon.social)'s status on Wednesday, 14-May-2025 18:21:51 JST Socke65

     in reply to

     @Gargron

     i support a few formats, that refuse to do that periodically.

   • Embed this notice
     Taste-of-Taboo (herrmartin@mastodon.social)'s status on Wednesday, 14-May-2025 18:36:18 JST Taste-of-Taboo

     in reply to

     @Gargron An even bigger problem is that ordinary people — non-nerds, most people — are no longer using the web. They only live in their social and streaming apps. I am constantly explaining what a browser is and how to open a link from a messaging app. These people are not using email anymore either, which is a huge concern if you own a shop.

   • Embed this notice
     freediverx (freediverx@mastodon.social)'s status on Wednesday, 14-May-2025 18:39:00 JST freediverx

     in reply to

     @Gargron
     I deleted my Facebook account ages ago (and therefore also Instagram), and more recently Twitter as well. I’ve eliminated Google from my life with the exception of Gmail and YouTube.i do not sign up for any websites or services using SSO. I do not use Chrome or any Chromium-based web browsers and I use ad blockers to virtually eliminate all advertising and most tracking from my web activity. I use Archive.is to break through paywalls.

   • Embed this notice
     XCM (_xcm@mastodon.social)'s status on Wednesday, 14-May-2025 19:49:50 JST XCM

     in reply to

     @Gargron
     Another concerning trend is websites asking to disable the ad blocker in order to proceed.
     I wouldn’t mind watching a short ad to support the service. What I am not ok with is profiling and tracking

   • Embed this notice
     VGC.369 (vgc_369@mastodon.social)'s status on Wednesday, 14-May-2025 20:56:49 JST VGC.369

     in reply to

     @Gargron The year is 2025. You tap an article.
     ➡️ Login wall.
     ➡️ App redirect.
     ➡️ CAPTCHA.
     ➡️ “Open in app?”
     ➡️ “Oops, something went wrong.”

     Meanwhile on Mastodon:
     You click a post.
     You read it.
     That’s it.

     Open web isn’t nostalgia. It’s a choice.
     Proud to be where URLs still mean something. ✊🏽

     #OpenWeb #AntiWalledGarden #Mastodon #NoMoreLoginWalls #DigitalFreedom

   • Embed this notice
     modris (modris@mastodon.social)'s status on Wednesday, 14-May-2025 21:34:38 JST modris

     in reply to

     @Gargron I hear you, but there are many others like you that are not fine with it. Many of us are moving/have moved away from big tech and are using other browsers, search engines, etc. that are less invasive and intrusive. Many people have just very quietly deactivated their facebook, twitter, instagram accounts to maintain their sanity (and some semblance of privacy). In the past six months, I've deactivated my Twitter and Bluesky accounts... and am enjoying just hanging out on Mastodon.😀

   • Embed this notice
     Kuo (lohankuo@mastodon.social)'s status on Wednesday, 14-May-2025 23:13:11 JST Kuo

     in reply to

     @Gargron
     hi on a phone you can use an application called NetGuard to regain controll, get it from Git and give the dev some support it also helps to block ads. google app store is not just a pain it tracks users. My favorite alternative is F droid which offers a limited choice of vetted applications..

   • Embed this notice
     miirak (miirak@mastodon.social)'s status on Thursday, 15-May-2025 00:50:33 JST miirak

     in reply to

     @Gargron it became almost a sport using the internet in its current state. It's regressing in so many ways like shoving AI Bots and subscription services down our throats or how search engines are broken or how ads became so invasive it might make some services nearly unusable.

   • Embed this notice
     rexi (rexi@mastodon.social)'s status on Thursday, 15-May-2025 03:57:36 JST rexi

     in reply to

     @Gargron
     dark days indeed.

   • Embed this notice
     HerrHerrmann (herrherrmann@mastodon.social)'s status on Thursday, 15-May-2025 05:50:20 JST HerrHerrmann

     in reply to

     • The Guardian
     • Kagi HQ

     @Gargron There’s some good counter culture as well though: @kagihq for search, @TheGuardian for news, the small web movement, digital gardens, web rings, etc. – but yeah, the mainstream web is currently terrible if you don’t know how to avoid it.

   • Embed this notice
     a fish named dog 🎗️✡️♾️ (fishnameddog@mastodon.social)'s status on Thursday, 15-May-2025 06:37:16 JST a fish named dog 🎗️✡️♾️

     in reply to

     @Gargron For a while, I read Mastodon without an account. While I had to rely on the explore tab or live feeds only, and couldn't comment (which was what finally got me to; I had Thoughts), it worked pretty well and allowed me to get a sense of the vibe a lot better than attempting the same for Facebook or the-Musk-playground-formerly-known-as-Twitter would.

   • Embed this notice
     narcolepsy and alcoholism :flag: (hj@shigusegubu.club)'s status on Thursday, 15-May-2025 11:34:15 JST narcolepsy and alcoholism :flag:

     in reply to
     @Gargron it it full of nonpublic content though
   • Embed this notice
     iris ✿ sandwalker (irisherself@mastodon.social)'s status on Thursday, 15-May-2025 15:34:50 JST iris ✿ sandwalker

     in reply to

     @Gargron couldn't agree more ☹️

   • Embed this notice
     milk jug (milkjugarmadillo@mastodon.social)'s status on Friday, 16-May-2025 04:20:16 JST milk jug

     in reply to

     @Gargron software developers need to be stopped

   • Embed this notice
     max oakland (maxoakland@mastodon.social)'s status on Tuesday, 20-May-2025 01:56:47 JST max oakland

     in reply to

     @Gargron Even searching the web sucks. The first page is always filled with AI generated spam from sites that have no reputation or credibility. It’s insane